Tennessee § 56-6-113 - Commissions.

§ 56-6-113. Commissions.

An insurer or insurance producer shall not pay a commission, service fee, brokerage fee or other valuable consideration to a person for selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in this state if that person is required to be licensed under this part and is not so licensed. A person shall not accept a commission, service fee, brokerage or other valuable consideration for selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in this state if that person is required to be licensed under this part and is not so licensed. Renewal or other deferred commissions may be paid to a person for selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in this state if the person was required to be licensed under this part at the time of the sale, solicitation or negotiation and was so licensed at that time. An insurer or insurance producer may pay or assign commissions, service fees, brokerages or other valuable consideration to an insurance agency or to persons who do not sell, solicit or negotiate insurance in this state, unless the payment would violate § 56-8-104(5) or (8). An unlicensed person may make a referral to a licensed insurance producer if the person does not discuss the specific insurance policy terms and conditions. Except as prohibited by federal law, the unlicensed person may be compensated for the referral. However, an unlicensed person who is neither employed by nor affiliated with the licensed insurance producer may be compensated only if the compensation is a fixed dollar amount, not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or such lesser amount as the commissioner may establish by rule, for each referral. In either event, the referral compensation must not depend on whether the referred customer purchases an insurance product from the licensed insurance producer. Acts 2002, ch. 798, § 14; 2008, ch. 1192, § 6; 2019, ch. 165, § 1. Compiler's Notes. Former Part 1, §§ 56-6-101 — 56-6-163 , concerning licensing of agents and solicitors, was replaced by Acts 2002, ch. 798. Former §§ 56-6-101 — 56-6-129 (Acts 1975, ch. 68, §§ 2-18; 1978, ch. 519, § 1; 1978, ch. 520, §§ 1, 2; 1978, ch. 648, § 1; 1979, ch. 85, § 1; 1979, ch. 196, § 1; 1980, ch. 745, § 1; 1980, ch. 821, § 3; 1980, ch. 857, § 2; 1982, ch. 644, §§ 1-6, 8; 1984, ch. 537, §§ 1, 2; 1985, ch. 193, §§ 1-4; 1987, ch. 211, § 1; T.C.A., §§ 56-801 — 56-829) were repealed by Acts 1988, ch. 1019, § 32(a). Former §§ 56-6-130 — 56-6-159 and 56-6-161 — 56-6-163 (Acts 1988, ch. 1019, §§ 1-29, 31; 1989, ch. 355, § 1; 1989, ch. 481, § 1; 1994, ch. 589, § 1; 1997, ch. 442, § 1; 2000, ch. 651, § 1; 2001, ch. 333, §§ 3, 4) were repealed by Acts 2002, ch. 798, effective January 1, 2003. Section 56-6-160(d) and (e) were also deleted by Acts 2002, ch. 798, effective January 1, 2003; however, § 28 of that act provided that (a), (b), and (c) of that section, shall remain in effect until January 1, 2004, when the replacement of the existing continuing education requirement in new § 56-6-107(c) shall take effect. Section 56-8-104(4) or (7), formerly referred to in this section, was redesignated as § 56-8-104(5) or (8) by Acts 2008, ch. 1079, § 5, effective January 1, 2008. Amendments. The 2019 amendment, in (e), substituted “licensed insurance producer” for “licensed producer” throughout, divided the former first sentence into the present first and second sentences by substituting “referral. However, an” for “referral; however, an”, substituted “if the person” for “; provided, that the person” in the first sentence, deleted the former second sentence which read: “An unlicensed person who is either employed by or affiliated with the insurance producer may be compensated only if the compensation is a fixed nominal dollar amount.”, and substituted “must not depend” for “shall not depend” in the last sentence. Effective Dates. Acts 2019, ch. 165, § 2. April 18, 2019.